Method of assembling venetian blinds



Oct. 6, 1953 H, NELSON 2,654,141

' METHOD OF ASsEMBi-X NG VENETIAN BLINDS Filed Afig. so, 1948 INVENTQR HA RR V NELSON BY W, H I ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 6, 1953 V n e. emu-f gr In conventional assembly of Venetian lg l i ngis,

t xl n 11,11; ladder tgpe A @111 vszmi qt q h invention is flatten V gigs v, iflaiain g fig 171) de 7. .n

If slats are e gln s erted th 3 shown in Fig. '1 being shown in position on the head bar and supporting the upper ends of the branches of a ladder tape.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the head bar shown in Fig. 2, the slats having been inserted within the ladder tapes and the lift cords having been reeved through the blind. The tilt bar with its tape rockers has also been inserted in the head bar and one of the ladder tape supports has been raised for engaging the ladder tape with the tape rocker;

Fig. 4 is a detailed perspective view showing the first phase of the engagement of a ladder tape branch with a tape rocker.

Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective view showing the second phase of engaging the ladder tape branch with the tape rocker.

Referring now to Fig. l, a temporary support or tool H] for the ladder tape branches is shown. This support may be so stamped from sheet metal as to form a horizontally-projecting arm ll extending across the bottom of the member. The arm H may be provided with an upwardly-extending hooked-end portion l2 to decrease the likelihood of fortuitous disengagement of the ladder tape from the arm H during assembly of the blind. The lower portion of the support is flat and of a size to pass readily through one of the slots provided in the bottom wall of a head bar 15 for passage of a ladder tape branch. One of these slots is shown at l4 in Fig. 2.

The support It] may extend straight up from the arm H so as to extend adjacent to a side Wall of the head bar l when inserted through the slot; and the support may be provided with a U-shaped upper end It adapted to hoolr over an upper edge of the head bar I5. If desired, a hole I! may be provided in the support ust below the upper end IE to facilitate grasping the support. The point of juncture of the arm H with the rest of the support H1 may be reinforced by an inwardly-pressed bead or corrugation 19 to resist lateral bending of the arm.

Referring now in detail to Fig. 2, the head bar shown is of more or less conventional channel shape and is often formed of sheet metal. The bottom wall of this head bar has previously been perforated to form pairs of slots such as the slot M for passage of the branches of each of the ladder tapes such as ladder tape 20. The F various fittings have already been secured in place along. the bottom wall of the head bar 15. including tilt rod cradles such as cradle 2| shown in Fig. 2. The channel end brace 22 may already be in position or may be inserted at any later time. For a complete description of the head bar and its various fittings, see my above-referredto Patent 2,629,434.

In order to incorporate the head bar ii in a Venetian blind, a support I0 is inserted downwardly through each slot H of the head bar, the upper ends [6 of the supports [0 being hooked over the upper edges of the head bar as shown in Fig. 2. The head bar l5 may then be supported on a conventional rack, not shown, so as to hold the head bar in normal level position.

A ladder tape is engaged with each pair of supports l0, ID by telescoping the looped upper ends of the ladder tape branches over the arms H, II. The ladder tapes are permitted to hang downwardly from the supports as indicated in Fig. 2. A bottom bar 24 may be secured to the lower ends of the ladder tapes 20 either before or after the tapes are hung on the support [0, pref 4 erably after lift cords have been reeved in the blind.

After the ladder tapes have been hung, the slats 25 of the blind may be inserted within the tapes, these slats being supported by the cross tapes or rungs 26 of the tapes. The lift cords 23 may then be reeved through the head bar 15 and downwardly through the slats 25 and the ladder tapes 20 and attached to the bottom bar 24. In the case of four lift cord blinds, the cords are then repassed upwardly through the blind slats.

After the lift cords 23 have been completely reeved, these cords are pulled so as to raise the blind to open position as shown in Fig. 3. In this position, the slats 25 are in superimposed relation on top of the bottom bar 24, thus taking 7 the tension off the upper ends of the branches of the ladder tapes 20. The tilt rod or bar 2! together with its tape rockers 28, one of which is shown, may then be assembled within the head bar 15, the entire head bar being lowered if desired for ease of working on it.

To complete the assembly, the supports 10 are then individually drawn upward by hand so as to draw each ladder tape branch through its slot 14 in the bottom wall of the head bar IS. The looped upper end of the branch of the ladder tape is then engaged with the tape rocker 28 by passing the loop onto the long finger 29 of the tape rocker 28 (as shown in Fig. 4) and then slipping the loop onto the short finger 30 of the tape rocker as the arm ll of the support is withdrawn from the ladder tape (as shown in Fig. 5). For a more detailed description of the tape rocker and the engagement of ladder tape branches therewith, see my Patent 2,589,846. When manipulating the support ill, the ball of the thumb or a finger of the operator may be engaged within the hole I! of the support to aid in grasping it.

The above-described method of assembly has been found to considerably expedite and facilitate the assembly of Venetian blinds of the inclosed head type and particularly the reeving of the lift cords therein. The tool 10 has been found to be highly effective and desirable in carrying out the method.

Iclaim:

1. The method of assembling an inclosed head Venetian blind, said blind having a hollow head bar which, in the assembled blind, contains the operating mechanism for the blind including the tilt bar, the bottom wall of the head bar having slots therein for the passage of ladder tapes therethrough and holes for the passage of the lift cords, the ladder-tape-receiving slots being disposed in opposed pairs, the holes in the bar receiving the lift cords lying between the slots of each pair and the tilt bar being above and generally centered with respect to the laddertape-receiving slots, said method comprising: suspending each ladder tape from a pair of temporary supports passed downwardly one through each ladder-tape-receiving slot and supported by the head bar, then inserting the slats in the ladder tapes, then reeving the lift cords through the holes in the head bar for such cords and through the slats of the blind, then raising the blind by means of the lift cords to support the slats by the lift cords and to remove the load from the ladder tapes, then inserting the tilt bar within the head bar, then raising each of the temporary supports to draw the upper ends of the ladder tapes upwardly through the slots in the head bar and into the space within the head barand attaching said ladder tape upper ends to the tilt bar.

2. The method of assembling an inclosed head Venetian blind, said blind having a hollow head bar which, in the assembled blind, contains the operating mechanism for the blind including the tilt bar, the bottom wall of the head bar havin slots therein for the passage of ladder tapes therethrough and holes for the passage of the lift cords, the ladder-tape-receiving slots being disposed in opposed pairs. the holes in the bar receiving the lift cords lying between the slots of each pair and the tilt bar being above and generally centered with respect to the ladder-tapereceiving slots, said method comprising: suspending each ladder tape i'rom a pair of temporary supports passed downwardly one through each ladder-tape-receiving slot and supported by the head bar, then inserting the slats in the ladder tapes, then'reeving the lift cords through the holes in the head bar for such cords and through the slats of the blind, then inserting the tilt bar within the head bar, then raising each of the temporary supports to draw the upper ends of the ladder tapes upwardly through the slots in the head bar and into the space within the head bar and attaching said ladder tape upper ends to the tilt bar.

3. The method of assembling an inclosed head Venetian blind, said blind having a hollow, channel-shaped head bar which, in the assembled blind, contains the operating mechanism for the blind including the tilt bar, the bottom wall of the head bar channel having slots therein for the passage of ladder tapes therethrough and holes for the passage of the lift cords downwardly through the slats, the ladder-tape-receiving slots being disposed in opposed pairs, and the tilt bar being above and generally centered with respect to the ladder-tape-receiving slots and directly above the cord-receiving holes, said method comprising: suspending each ladder tape from a pair of temporary supports passed downwardly one through each ladder-tape-receiving slot and supported from the upper edge of the adjacent side of the head bar channel, then inserting the slats in the ladder tapes, then reeving the lift cords through said lift cord holes in the head bar and through the slats of the blind, then inserting the tilt bar within the head bar between the pairs of temporary supports, then raising the temporary supports to draw the upper ends of the ladder tapes upwardly through the slots in the head bar into the space within the head bar and attaching said ladder tape upper ends to the tilt bar.

HARRY NELSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,036,787 Zabriskie Apr. 7, 1936 2,264,161 Hammer Nov. 25, 1941 2,236,876 Jablon Apr. 1, 1941 2,287,287 Boltz June 23, 1942 2,395,541 Fagel Feb. 26, 1946 2,403,666 Lubetsky July 9, 1946 2,489,467 Sherwood Nov. 29, 1949 

